Astros 2, Phillies 1: Smith's 20th Off Duran in the Ninth

A splitter, a 20th homer, and 12 Phillies in a row

September 10, 2026 - Philadelphia - Cam Smith hit a splitter from Jhoan Duran to center in the ninth. The Associated Press recap said it was the first home run off Duran since May 22. It was Smith's 20th. The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Citizens Bank Park and took the rubber game of the series.

Sunny, 86 degrees, wind out to right at 9 mph. Attendance 37,100. Game time 2 hours, 30 minutes. Houston retired Philadelphia's last 12 batters. Bennett Sousa, Bryan Abreu, and Josh Hader each threw a perfect inning. Hader needed eight pitches for his 25th save in 25 chances. Duran (2-6) threw 17 and lost.

Philadelphia dropped four games behind Atlanta in the NL East heading into a weekend in Atlanta. Houston started the day with a two-game lead on Texas in the AL West, the only club in the division with a winning record, per the AP recap. Texas lost later. The lead is three.

Trammell's double, then Stott's force

Cristian Javier and Zack Wheeler spent the afternoon making 1-1 look like a final. Javier threw the first six innings of a combined no-hitter here in the 2022 World Series. On Thursday he went six: three hits, one run, one walk, five strikeouts, 79 pitches. Wheeler went seven: five hits, one run, two walks, nine strikeouts, 110 pitches. He is eight strikeouts shy of 2,000, the AP recap said. Neither man got a decision.

Christian Walker singled in the second. Smith struck out. Taylor Trammell doubled to right, his 10th, Walker scoring from first. 1-0. Christian Vázquez grounded out. That was Houston's first run and, for a long stretch, its last.

Philadelphia tied it in the fifth without extra-base damage that scored. Luis Arraez singled. Alec Bohm doubled, his 27th, Arraez to third. Bryson Stott bounced to short, a fielder's choice, Arraez scoring, Bohm out at third. 1-1. Brandon Marsh then grounded into a double play. One run on a force. Wheeler had already given up Trammell's double. He did not give up another run.

Houston put traffic on in the eighth and left it there. Jeremy Peña singled and took second on Trea Turner's throwing error. José Alvarado intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez. Isaac Paredes lined into a double play, Peña doubled off. Jose Altuve doubled, Alvarez to third. Daulton Varsho popped out. Two on, nobody in. Abreu then struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth: Stott, Marsh, Justin Crawford. Ten pitches. Three punchouts. The ninth was set up for someone to blink.

Duran blinked

Walker grounded out to start the ninth. Smith did not. Fly ball to center. 2-1. Trammell popped out. Yainer Diaz struck out. Hader got Edmundo Sosa, Kyle Schwarber, and Turner in order. Schwarber grounded to short. Turner grounded to second. The Phillies finished with three hits. Turner went 0-for-4. Schwarber went 0-for-3 with a walk. Bryce Harper went 0-for-3. That is a 2-1 loss with the 3-4-5 staying quiet and the closer hanging a splitter.

Smith went 2-for-3 with a walk, a homer, an RBI, and a run. Altuve had two hits including the eighth-inning double. Trammell doubled in a run and walked. Peña singled. Walker scored the first run. Alvarez walked and struck out three times. The Astros had eight hits and left seven on. They needed the ninth because the eighth did not cash Alvarez at third.

Javier handed a 1-1 game to Sousa. Sousa threw a scoreless seventh. Abreu (6-3) got the win for the 1-2-3 eighth. Hader closed it. Wheeler deserved a better night than a no-decision that turned into a loss after he left. Nine strikeouts in seven innings is a line Philadelphia will take in October. It did not survive Duran's ninth.

A rubber game, then Atlanta

Houston is 75-72. Philadelphia is 82-65. The Phillies go to Atlanta four back. The Astros leave town with the series and a division lead that got larger when Seattle beat Texas. A 2-1 on a Thursday in September is a bullpen game dressed as a pitchers' duel. Wheeler and Javier did the duel. Smith did the rest.

Citizens Bank Park has seen Wheeler do this before. It has also seen Houston leave with one-run wins. Thursday was the version with 12 retired in a row and a 20th homer that the closer had not allowed since May. The rubber game is Houston's. The weekend in Atlanta is Philadelphia's problem now.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Wheeler at 23 pitching fantasy points, tied with Logan Gilbert for third on the slate, in a loss. Javier had 19. Abreu had 8. Hader had 9. Smith had 7 hitting FP. Houston finished with 6 team FP, fifth. Philadelphia finished at minus-1. Nine strikeouts over seven innings still score. A solo homer in the ninth scores too. The team table followed the club that left with the W.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*